


Reciprocal, Reciprocated, Returned

by ThunderDownOnGreenside



Category: Free!
Genre: First Love, Love Confessions, M/M, MikoRin, Pre-Slash, Rin cusses a lot ahaha, Romantic Fluff, SeijuuRin, Seijuurou doesn't like being confused, Slash, Time Skips, What is this pairing even called, marriage proposals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 17:36:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1787353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThunderDownOnGreenside/pseuds/ThunderDownOnGreenside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mutual doesn't even begin to cover it.</p><p>(In which Seijuurou needs a break, Rin needs a chance, and a good run just might give them everything.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reciprocal, Reciprocated, Returned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrioMaxwell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrioMaxwell/gifts).



> ((This is my 4000th post! :D Figured I should pay proper homage again to the pairing that got me going on this blog in the first place~ I dedicate this one to my dear and talented friend Trio-san, who has inspired me in my writings more than I can even say. Thank you!))

Touching hands sends sparks up his arm. Meeting gazes sends chills down his spine. If merely knowing that they're going to be in a room together makes his heart skip a beat, then what is he doing wasting time and not reaching out? These lovely little things should be seized upon with great joy and hope, not gazed after with a wistful look and a dusty sigh that sounds way too old to be coming out of his body! He needs to find whatever is inhibiting him and take it out, no questions asked!

 

Well that's the thing. He really isn't sure what's stopping him.

 

Seijuurou groans loudly and thumps his head on his desk, too frustrated to even feel the pain. This whole think-tank session really isn't working and he isn't having fun with this, not at all. He's never been one for philosophy or thinking about things in general; he's action-oriented, clever on the instinctual level and more than capable of proving it under pressure, but this is something different entirely and he really doesn't like it.

 

"Is this a bad time, Captain?"

 

His luck seems to be running low as well, because the one person he's been having trouble with has just magically appeared in his office door, hair pulled back and exercise jacket slung way too casually over his shoulder. From the looks of it, he's heading out for a jog, not that Seijuurou has memorized his schedule or anything...

 

"Not at all, Matsuoka, I'm just...frustrated. Just a personal thing. Do you need something?"

 

What's interesting is the way that Rin fidgets slightly at the question, eyes avoiding meeting the other's. 

 

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go jogging with me today."

 

Seijuurou blinks once, head tilting slightly to the side in confusion. It isn't as though he and Rin are on bad terms or anything - if anything, things have been going well between them - but the second year remains a solitary type of guy, preferring to spend time alone or with very close friends in particular and despite his efforts, Seijuurou just can't compete. It's become one of his most potent frustrations, if anything.

 

For his part, Rin gets tetchy under the scrutiny, shifting and glaring at his captain out of the corner of his eye. It's a good look for him, Seijuurou decides, even if his ire is being aimed in his general direction.

 

"Seriously?" He asks, voice heavy with disbelief and Rin bristles slightly.

 

"Well, you'd expressed interest in the past and I wasn't totally sick of stupid people today, so I figured I could fit you into my schedule." He bites out, getting more nervous and as such more defensive by the second. "Plus physical activity is good for frustration and you've seemed off lately so I wanted to help, but if that's how you're going to be then-!"

 

Absorbed in his rant as he had been, Rin hadn't noticed as Seijuurou rose from his seat and moved towards him, only realizing it when his captain was right in front of him.

 

"What the hell are you doing?"

 

"Sure." Is all the other offers in answer and it takes Rin a few seconds to catch on, what with the unexpected proximity and all. 

 

"Running? You mean it?" His face breaks out into a grin before he can stop himself and Seijuurou smiles brightly back.

 

"Yeah! I mean, you're right, I could definitely use the breather. Doesn't sound so bad right now, you know? Let me grab my running shoes, okay?"

 

Rin nods, attempting to school his expression despite his excitement. This could be his chance...

 

____________________________________________________

 

"Man, no wonder you do that so often! I feel great!" 

 

The sun hangs low in the sky, reflecting in dusky orange rays across the Samezuka campus. Rin has to laugh at the enthused look on Seijuurou's face, watching as he leans against the wall and braces his feet against the ground as he catches his breath.

 

"Well, yeah." Rin shrugs, taking a spot next to him. "I don't just do it for kicks, you know? It's good for you in a lot of ways."

 

"I'll take that," Seijuurou laughs, taking a long drink from his water bottle and Rin tries to pretend that he isn't watching the way that his captain's throat moves when he swallows. "You brought water, right?"

 

"Of course." He retorts, tapping Seijuurou on the head with said bottle. "Running is probably the one thing that I never mess up with."

 

Privately, Seijuurou can agree with that. Rin is majestic in the water as it is, fierce and powerful and awe-inspiring, but when he runs, he's something else entirely. He's driven and graceful, but in an easy way despite the obvious discipline. He takes running seriously, but it never consumed him as swimming had. It had never been tainted by confusion or frustration. If anything, running had become Rin's freedom from such things, and it shows.

 

"Oi." Seijuurou starts a little when Rin leans into his personal space, gaze focused on him. "You spaced out there for a bit, you okay?"

 

"Just thinking." 

 

Rin mulls that over for a moment before seemingly deciding that it's a matter worth pursuing. Damn kid and his perception.

 

"About what?"

 

"...stuff." Seijuurou says intelligently, and Rin huffs in self-satisfied amusement. Great. Now he knows that he's onto something.

 

"What kind of stuff? The same thing that was bothering you earlier?"

 

Seijuurou's breath catches and the other takes that as a yes; he's right anyway, so there's no point in denying it. Neither of them like playing games, regardless of whether or not they actually do play them, and certainly not with each other. He may as well get it out anyway.

 

"Yeah, actually." He admits, and though Rin doesn't press further, he knows what he wants. "And it's...well, okay. Have you ever liked someone before? You know...like a crush?"

 

"Yeah? Who hasn't, honestly?"

 

Seijuurou swallows, uncharacteristic nerves settling in. 

 

"Well. I've...recently come to realize that I have feelings for someone who probably doesn't feel the same." He manages, and tries to ignore the look of empathetic understanding that dawns on Rin's face. So he knows what that feels like. It's a little too much to hope for that the feelings are concerning what he'd prefer. "...But regardless, I kind of want to confess to them, you know? Just to see...I'm stupid like that, haha..."

 

"...it's not that stupid." Rin offers, voice softer than usual. "I mean, I've...been feeling the same way about someone that I know as well. He's...great. Amazing. But I don't think he sees me the way I see him, and I don't think he even...I don't think he even likes boys, haha. What about you?"

 

Seijuurou laughs quietly and bitterly along with Rin, debating how he could possibly phrase this next bit without giving everything away. He eventually settles on what he does best: winging it.

 

"Well, he's...he's something else."

 

"He?" Rin's eyebrows shoot up in blatant surprise, and the look that flashes across his face in that second looks like...what? Hope? Relief? 

 

"Yeah..." Seijuurou continues, his own eyebrows slanting with suspicion. Could it be that...? "He's amazing too, in his own right. Talented, attractive, intelligent...everything you'd want, you know? I mean, he's also kind of crazy, but I kind of like it."

 

He laughs despite himself and is a little surprised to hear Rin laugh too, his voice light and amused.

 

"Crazy, huh?" He smiles at Seijuurou, and the older male feels his heart skip a beat. "Can you tell me who it is?"

 

"Only if you tell me first." The captain counters, panicking slightly. This could go horribly wrong...

 

"...okay." Rin gives in surprisingly easy, taking a deep breath seemingly to steel his nerves even as Seijuurou mentally prepares himself for the worst. "I...I... _Ithinklikeyou_."

 

And no matter how rushed the breath or how frightened words sounds, Seijuurou understands but at the same time he really doesn't because how could that possibly be true? 

 

"What?" He manages, and Rin literally flinches, turning away and clutching his water bottle to his chest in a rare display of fear.

 

"You heard me!" His teammate bites out, voice shaking. "I like you! S-so what? You don't have to like me back, you know?"

 

"No, that's not it." Seijuurou insists, reaching out to grab Rin's shoulder but abruptly deciding to settle for just a touch. "Listen to me for once, would you?"

 

"Then what is it?" The other demands. "Well?"

 

Well. It's now or never.

 

"I like you too, Rin."

 

____________________________________________________

 

_Seven years later_

 

Touching hands sends sparks up his arm. Meeting gazes sends chills down his spine. If merely knowing that they're going to spend time together makes his heart skip a beat, then what is he doing wasting time and not reaching out? These lovely little things should be seized upon with great joy and hope, not considered with a wistful thinking and a dusty sigh that sounds way too old to be coming out of his body! He needs to find whatever is inhibiting him and take it out, no questions asked!

 

Well that's the thing. He really isn't sure what's stopping him.

 

Rin is perfect, his other half, his everything. His soulmate. Something like that, anyway. He feels the same about him as Makoto does about Haruka, as Rei does about Nagisa. He's sure of it. It's the simplicity of a perfect match, the grace found in easy strides taken side by side. 

 

So _why_ must it be so impossibly difficult to take this next step?

 

"Is this a bad time, Sei?"

 

Seijuurou sighs and rubs his forehead, glancing at his boyfriend of seven years. Rin is ready for a workout, his hair tied back and spandex jogging pants on and doing a wonderful job of accentuating his muscular thighs. Seijuurou swallows a little harder than usual.

 

"Going somewhere?"

 

"Running, remember?" Rin prods, gesturing at the pair of shoes still sitting by Seijuurou's feet. "Or did you go so far into your own head that you forgot how to tie your shoes?"

 

"Ha-ha." The older man rolls his eyes, reaching out to grab one of them only to stop short, suddenly struck by inspiration. _Of course._

 

"You alright there?" Rin sounds concerned but Seijuurou waves him off, laughing.

 

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be out there in a sec, okay? I've gotta get my water too."

 

"Alright." Rin lets the oddity slide, writing it off as another one of his boyfriend's thinking sessions and heading to the kitchen. He'd been having an awful lot of them lately, and one could only hope that they would spawn something productive. 

 

_Something like a proposal, maybe? Seriously, if he doesn't get it together I'll just have to do it myself. Moron._

 

Seijuurou finishes tying his shoes and goes to the dresser, glancing around to make sure that Rin isn't in the room anymore before digging through one of the drawers. He's never been very good about keeping his things neat, so Rin refuses to touch it, and that's finally come to his advantage.

 

Retrieving the little box from the drawer, Seijuurou follows Rin to the door, more than ready for the confession this time.

 

____________________________________________________

 

_"Rin, will you marry me?"_

 

_"..."_

 

_"H-hey! Are you crying?"_

 

_"N-no! I mean, no, I'm not fucking crying what the hell, why would you even - yes!"_

 

_"Wait, what?"_

 

_"Yes I'll marry you, you idiot! What the hell did you think I was going to say?"_

 

_"Wait, you mean it?"_

 

_"...of course, Seijuurou."_

 

_"Rin...you know I love you, right?"_

 

_"Well, yeah. I love you too."_


End file.
